


Earth and Beyond

by Azazel_Lord_of_Shadows



Category: Supernatural, Supernatural Novels - Various
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-07-11 15:23:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7057984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azazel_Lord_of_Shadows/pseuds/Azazel_Lord_of_Shadows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of Amara after she and Chuck leave Earth. They will return at some point.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Steps

**Author's Note:**

> Since we're probably never going to see Amara again, I wanted to write about one of my favourite characters, and how things change now that she's back.

They soared up, twisting, spiralling into the air, through the atmosphere into what was once called the ether; two pillars of smoke, one a smoky grey-black, one a shining white tinged with a hint of blue. Polar opposites of each other - and yet so similar it was almost uncanny. Only one person watched as they flew away into the air, not knowing the reward he had been given for his part in this reunion that he could never completely comprehend - and yet, he understood the core of the reunion perfectly. 

Up and up they went spiralling into the emptiness of the universe - but now, the universe wasn't so empty. With the advent of her release, the darkness had become something... more. Now that the original source of the Darkness was out and about, the darkness in the universe had substance, form, shape once more - as did the light. No human would be able to detect this - it defied reason, logic and science. Eventually, one day they might be able to, but that would be a very long time in the making. 

Neither brother nor sister cared about this. Instead they moved, transporting themselves across the universe in a matter of moments, coalescing into the human forms they were now so familiar with.

They were thousands upon thousands of light years away from Earth, drifting on and on and on, accelerating, challenging each other with their speed and agility. The darkness called to her as she flew on, as the light called to him, both being drawn in to their game, clashing against each other, the newly awakened essence of the dark making up for its weakness with a little aggression that didn't go unnoticed by either one of the siblings. 

Millions, (possibly billions) of years of resentment didn't simply disappear in an instant. 

For the moment, there were other things to do. 

He called to his sister, a call without words, asking her very politely to come with him. Aware of the universe, but having actually seen it with her own eyes, she acceded to him, and followed, the clouds of smoke all but vanishing as the sped faster than the speed of light.

Amara sensed and saw the stars around her, the meteors and comets that sailed onwards, the nebulae blazing in all their glory, the black holes that dragged in everything that dared pass their event horizons. They called to her, and she was drawn to them - but there would be time for that later. 

Right now, she had other things to do.

Before she could think anymore, he began to rise nearly perpendicularly to direction they had been travelling in; she rose with him matching his speed. She could have accelerated ahead, but she didn't see the need to. 

An orb loomed towards her in her cosmic awareness, her brother descending to the surface before her, morphing his body into that human shape. She landed next to him, doing likewise, forming the body of woman that she had grown into, her dress as dark and simple as ever.

"What are we doing here, Brother?"

"Please call me Chuck."

"Not God?"

The words came out sharper than she had intended, and he winced.

"Just Chuck, please."

She softened her tone. She had decided to forgive him, after all. It would take some time for the edge to come off - a couple hundred years or so if she really, really tried. Realistically, a few hundred millennia. Maybe a million years. Whatever.

"Okay, Chuck. Why are we here?"

She turned round looking up at the sky. It was a sickly yellow colour, illuminating the smalls tufts of brown and purple coloured shrubs with narrow, rounded leaves. The river running past them was metallic copper green colour with a hint of blue, the smell unpleasant and toxic. She sensed death, on a massive scale - but it was old, ancient even. Even the shrubs seemed barely alive, clinging to life by an already frayed needle thread.

"Could you undo all of this?"

Amara looked at him strangely. Not exactly how she expected their conversation to start.

"Certainly."

"Would you mind? Undoing it, I mean. This planet - this particular solar system, actually."

"Bro- Chuck," she corrected herself. "Our sibling spat nearly destroyed everything. Dean just saved Creation from extinction. I've only just begun to learn about this Universe that you created. And now you want me to destroy this part of it. Is that all you see me as-"

"Please, Amara. Humour me. I- I want to show you something."

He sounded nervous, and slightly wary. Just how he had sounded when they had fought all that time ago, before he and archangels had struck her down. 

She didn't want that. 

"Fine. Make sure you protect yourself. I haven't let go for a while, and things could get a little messy."

"Sure."

Feeling his shimmering power, so similar to her and yet so different, wrapping his shining being in layers of protection, Amara spread her arms wide - and let the destruction flow free. 

She felt the Universe tremble. It was unaccustomed to her power, the opposite to the its Creator's - capable of the same things, accomplished in a completely different way.

The matter beneath her unravelled as her shadow passed over it, the gases and solids around her breaking down from molecules to atoms, ripping them down to protons, neutrons and electrons, and further down. The colours of the liquid and unravelled and feel away, the sky being stripped back and torn apart in the most gentle manner possible, revealing the stars that could not be seen before. Her shadow spread out, changing into a billowing mass of smoke that drifted, and yet sped along reaching out to the other twenty five near lifeless orbs and the three suns, one in full bloom as it continued to supernova. Their light dimmed and then faded as they were stripped back and away, their energy devoured and removed, the asteroids floating in small clusters consumed into supposed nothingness. 

It was so beautiful to be free, so wonderful to be just able to spread out, and just be. Just her and her brother - nothing else, no-one else, nobody else-

Then she saw his face flash into his head. Wry smile, beautiful green eyes, short hair. His brother. The world they stood on, the worlds that had passed on their way her, teeming with life, the stars burning in all their glory.

Amara lowered her arms, and she came back into herself, her brother's defences lowering as they kept themselves in human form, suspended in space.

Turning to her brother, she tried not to let her bitterness bleed into her communication with him. 

"So what now?"

Chuck smiled at her, his smile warm and happy, if slightly awkward. 

"Now we're going to create something."

Amara looked at him for a second, stunned. Then she gave a little laugh - that became a booming roar as all the darkness laughed along with her. 

"Create something? Really?"

"Yes, Amara."

His tone made her stop. His face was pouty, slightly petulant. She could see him wanting to fold his arms, and straightened herself up, schooling her features into a blank mask. 

"Chuck, you are the Creator. I'm the Destroyer. That's just the way it is. Isn't that why you locked me in the first place? Because I wouldn't let you create anything?"

"Yes. Yes, that's why I did that. But I didn't understand why you kept on undoing everything I made. I didn't know why." He looked down - or whatever direction appeared to be down while they were suspended in space. "And I never asked. I just got annoyed, and then..." His voice trailed off, before he looked up again, his eyes resolved, his expression hardening slightly.

"I showed you my Creations - showed off what I had done, showed off all my work and declared it good. But I never offered to show you how to do it, never offered to help you. I just shouted at you. And threw a Sun at you, which you devoured. Then we fought and I did what I did. I'm trying to make up for that now. There's nothing I can do to change what happened."

Amara looked at her little brother. "No, there's not," she said bluntly, and saw him flinch again. She really needed to stop doing that. But she guessed it would take a while. He'd have to deal with it to then.

"On the other hand, we can change the narrative. There is fault on your end. But there is also fault on mine. I was too quick to destroy, and too unwilling to change." Amara smiled sadly. "I also didn't want to share you with anyone else. Yes, we annoyed each other, but it was just us. The Original Duo. New consciousnesses, new beings... I wasn't the biggest fan. But now, after everything and everyone that I've met... I can see that I bear some of the blame as well. That doesn't mean what you did was right."

"I know. I know. And I know we can't just go back to the way we were before. Everything's different now. The Universe is here. The Multiverse, really. And it's so wonderful." He moved over to her, taking her hand. "I'd like to share it with you. In all honesty, you're the only one who could even truly understand." 

"Chuck, I can't create things."

"And I couldn't destroy things. Until I had too. I'm Light. You're Darkness. Who says only one can create, and one can destroy? One might come easier than the other, but if I can do both so can you."

"We're like yin and yang," Amara mused. "Capable of being different, if we need to be."

"Exactly."

"So the reason you got me to undo all of this was-"

"So that we could make stuff. Together. Our creation, rather than just mine. We'll start small, and then, we can see how it goes." He smiled at her, and she couldn't help but smile back. Her little brother's smile was so bright - literally and metaphorically. 

They couldn't go back. So they would go forward. And this would be the start. 

"So. How do I do this?"

Chuck smiled at her. "Well, this is how I do it..." 

He reached out, and then stopped, his smile getting even wider.

"What?"

"This matter... It's the primordial stuff."

"Matter is just matter."

"No - this is different. I can make things, and unravel them as well - but never this perfectly. This is the primordial soup that was there in the Beginning. The easiest thing to manipulate. The perfect base for making anything. I could never do that."

"If I can create, then you can do that. I'll show you, after we make this new Universe."

"Will you?"

"Yes, Little Brother. God. Chuck. Of course."

"You always get nervous when you're nice."

"Shut up. Now, how do we make stars?"


	2. Homebound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amara and Chuck are your typical siblings. If you have siblings that are near infintely powerful.

The primordial soup flowed, the substance responding to their... touch was the wrong word for it, but it was the word they would use. Gathering it all together, they manipulated the soup, condensing it, igniting it, balancing the components, spinning them into elements and isotopes, before forcing them together in ways that were near impossible to replicate through chance. 

The star was born before them, and exploding radiance that was dazzling to behold, and beautiful to witness. She admired it, before the wash of heat washed over her, making her warm and toasty. 

Two nebulas, four stars and seven planets. A couple of their stars had gone array, and one of their planets had cracked and shattered into a thousand pieces - but after some time (she didn't know how long - what was time to them?), they had learned to create in harmony, the Darkness and the Light making a Solar System. Her brother told her that they could sow the seeds of life - or they could simply wait for them to appear. They would drift in from beyond the stars, or maybe evolve from the one of in a billion chance that inanimate forces of nature deemed it fit to rise.

But she didn't want to wait. 

So she watched Chuck reach down into the stone surface of the planet, plunging his hand through the solid mass, showing her how to turn the stone into dirt, making soft and loamy, pockets of minerals forming. Amara created the seas, and filled them with heavy water, and mercury, forcing the displaced rock down towards the belly of the new planet, mountains crashing up from the depths, resolute and proud, spearing the zinc and argon atmosphere. 

Walking over to her brother, she took his hand and the knowledge of plants based between them, as did the knowledge of animals. Taking heed of it, they created creatures that could live in this world - variants of the life forms that inhabited the earth, forming ecosystems and habitats for them to live, love and die in, Amara influencing the designs so they were distinctly different from the ones that lived on Earth. Some they made completely, while others they left unfinished, the potential for them to evolve into something different almost glowing within them. 

As the day wore on, they travelled the planet, both of them marvelling at the world they had created. She stared down, knowing what she would see, knowing every molecule and structure - and yet still wanting to witness it firsthand, to see it, rather than to sense it. 

"I see now why you stopped once in a while," Amara said. 

"Hmm?"

"It would be a waste to create all of this, and then to simply leave it alone. To not admire Universe and everything planets while you were making it would have been a spectacular oversight."

Chuck nodded happily. "And it only got more interesting over the years. Things changed, some predictable, some unpredictable. It feels so good to simply set things in motion, and just let them go. I interfered once in a while, of course."

"You were always a bit of a meddler."

"But all in all, I left most of it to chance. And everything seems to have worked out relatively okay."

"It has. This is all... wondrous. So peaceful. I love Earth, but..."

"It does tend to get a bit noisy?"

"So many people wishing for so many things. So many people hoping for things. Others just wanting someone to listen, someone to care. Calling out for help."

"You can hear them?" Chuck sounded genuinely surprised.

"I can."

"How? They're not praying to-" He stopped himself mid-sentence.

"No, they're not praying to me. But often, these wishes are said when they are alone, in the dark, or somewhere shady, in a shadow. And I am the Dark. I'm still not fully in tune with the darkness in the Universe, but I can hear the whispers if I open myself to them. They fly so high, and fall so low, change in a second and then stay the same for years at a time."

"That's humanity for you. I created the angels, but I made them to docile. Or I scared them into being so. I'm not sure which is nearer the truth. Maybe both. So I created humanity, and let them free, attempting to prod them in what I thought was the right direction."

"I'm sure you did your best. Even with all your ego."

"I did," Chuck replied, defensively. "I did. But I made some mistakes. And sometimes I've wondered whether I should've stepped in more, or less-"

"Chuck. What's done is done. There's nothing you can do about it now. Let's enjoy this new world."

He smiled. "You're right. Let's take a firsthand glance at this marvellous new planet."

So they did. Soaring through the atmosphere, plunging into the seas, changing from form to form as they experienced everything firsthand, before retreating just above the planet, looking out over the new Solar System that would most likely spin for billions of years to come. There was no point in travelling into the future to see what it would become - the possibilities were endless and infinite. Staying in the present was best for things like this. 

Yet the fascination only lasted for a day or two. 

Amara was restless. After the high intensity of humanity, this world felt remote. Empty, even. The humans were intriguing. She'd only met a few of them - and even the most basic of them were surprising in ways that she instinctively knew she would find fascinating for a long time to come. 

Even as they moved through the rest of space, hurtling to places so far away from anywhere that even the largest stars and nebulae became pinpricks of light in their eyes, Amara's mind remained fixed on the blue-green orb that hung in space, the first place part of creation she had seen when the seal had been broken. 

.........................................................

"Chuck."

"Yeah?"

They were basking in the light of supernova, as the fiery mass of destruction hurtled towards the asteroid they lay on, idly flicking comets and meteors into the inferno for fun, watching them splinter and break apart, to then melt and evaporate in the heat.

"Do you want to go back to Earth?"

He was silent for a moment. 

"You noticed?"

"Even though it was your idea to get away from everything, it was clear from the start that you were doing it for my benefit. Not that I don't appreciate that."

"I thought you would be happier if it was just like you wanted it. Me and you. Doing sibling things."

"So did I. But like we established earlier - it's not like that anymore. There's a Universe - a Multiverse, really. And although we could do this, I think it'd be more fun to be back on that planet that you're so obsessed with. Those humans..."

"You really are my sister. It's like an itch, isn't it?"

"It's unbearable, really. All of them. Even that treacherous witch."

"She's not so bad."

"You'll wake up with a knife in your back. Her son's not much better, but at least he has the decency to open about it."

"She was really nice to me."

"She needed you."

"Even after we'd lost, and I was dying. Maybe she was desperate. Who knows? She was there ,though. You need to learn to forgive them."

"I did go wondering once in a while - but inevitably I always ended back there. I just can't help it."

"You have a child complex."

"If I'm they're father, you're their aunt. And it looks like you're already starting to suffer from the aunt complex as well."

"What do you mean?"

"Dean."

"Ah."

"What did you give him, when you left Earth?"

"You didn't check?"

"I thought it would be rude."

"I gave him something he'd been longing for. Whether he needed it, I don't know. But it was the least I could do - after all the trouble I'd caused for him in particular. It wasn't fair on him. At all. Any apology would be pitiful - and he needs something good in his life, other than that brother of his. So... I acted."

"Always impulsive."

"And you were always cautious."

"True. Shall we stop killing time now?"

Amara smiled. "Certainly. Let's get going and see what my short-lived nieces and nephews are up to."

"We'll have to introduce you to the longer lived ones at some point."

"I don't think they'll be too pleased to see me. I did kill three of them. Four, if you include the one I absorbed. Then there was the attack on heaven. They did smite me twice, but I'm not sure that evens itself out. I'm their bogeyman, their bedtime story, their first nightmare. The enemy that was never meant to exist."

"It'll take them some time. You'll have to apologise, and I imagine they'll forgive you. In hundred, two hundred years. If you bring back their siblings, they'll be a little more inclined to forgive you sooner."

"That's true. It'll be nice for them to get their father and an aunt in one fell swoop." 

He blanched. "That is going to be one of the most awkward conversations. Ever. I'm not sure how they'll react to me just showing back up."

"Well, we don't have to do it now. Give it a couple of decades, or so?"

"We'll see. But for now," Chuck said, turning into shining white mist, "let's go back." She heard the playfulness in his voice. "Catch me if you can!"

She let him get a couple of light years away before following. It had to be fair contest, after all.

Soaring across the vastness of the Universe, she suddenly realised why they hadn't populated the newly formed worlds with sentient beings. 

There was still much she had to learn about them, so much she had to know and see about intelligent, mortal beings before she went about moulding her own - with or without her brother. 

If she had had a body, she would've smiled. It was something she was looking forward to.


	3. Surf's Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amara does another good deed, Chuck only partially approves.

The Moon, the silvery white orb that could only reflect the light of the Sun, was as beautiful as ever as they landed on it, carefully erasing their footsteps as they walked to stare down at the Earth. Amara couldn't help the little thrill that coursed through her. She allowed the chatter to flow in, hearing all the wishes, prayers and thoughts that were whispered in the dark, the words that slid into the shadows, and by default, her ears. 

"Do you have anywhere you'd like to go?" 

"Not particularly," Chuck said. "I don't know... Everywhere is so interesting. Do you have somewhere in mind?"

Amara tilled her head to one side, and then pointed down.

"There?"

"Yeah. There's somebody there that I need to meet."

"Who-" Chuck's eyes narrowed, and then widened again. "Oh. Him."

"Yeah. Him. I've always had a link to him, since I arrived on Earth. Even in child form, there was a connection."

"Why?"

"He was born of the Dark. As much as he gains power from the light, he was conceived more of my power than yours. And like Dean, he's lost something that was an integral part of him. I can't ignore him. Especially in the situation that he's in now, and the life that he has experienced so far - which is, by proxy, our fault."

"I would strongly advise against it. Giving someone what they want is not necessarily a good thing."

"He's a good person, though. And I'm sure, in time, he'll learn to be a great one."

"Mortals with power do tend to go astray. Especially if you restore the power he has."

"He showed more restraint than most humans would have in that situation."

Chuck fell silent. "I won't stop you. I'd just say that it isn't advisable."

"We'll see. Shall we?"

Then they were gone once more, spiralling down to the Earth towards the Southern Hemisphere, towards a landmass renowned for beautiful, yet arid landscapes, magical beaches and assortment of deadly creatures that lived everywhere and anywhere. 

Brother and sister appeared at Snapper Rocks, Queensland. Chuck had a pair of dark Ray-Ban sunglasses and knee length white shorts, covered in twisting green and black patterns. Amara had opted for something she'd seen in a magazine - a black, two piece bikini, plain and simple, with a black, gossamer-thin gown that cut off at the middle of her shins, rippling in the light breeze.

The sand was almost painfully hot as they strolled down towards the waterfront, the glare off both the sand and sea blinding to mortal eyes. With a wave of her hand, a massive black and white striped beach umbrella, while her brother, summoning a blanket and a basket of food, and chilled drinks. 

"If you don't mind, I think I'll go for a swim," Amara announced, removing her gown. 

"I might join you later," Chuck said, a book appearing in his hand. "I've got to finish this, though. It's gotten really interesting."

Amara folded her gown, and placed it down carefully, before sauntering over to the sea, the cool water lapping against her skin, as she walked in. Swirling the water through her fingers, she spun round a few times, moving further out to sea. It was refreshing , the cool, salty liquid caressing her skin, before she looked around, hiding herself from prying eyes, and diving into the ocean. 

Swimming along, she propelled herself forward, corkscrewing down into the depths, passing through the nets, dancing amongst the fish she found beyond them. A sleek shape with dark eyes slid past her, and she smiled, as the great white, at least fifteen feet long, circled her, the eyes watching her intently, and warily. 

Animals were always wise, and even an apex predator knew when it was outmatched. 

Moving towards it, Amara gently took hold of its dorsal fin, and it took her for a ride, the powerful tail of the shark flicking, the pectoral fins guiding it both high and low, taking her further and further out to sea. Laughing, she let the shark carry her wherever it wished, until she became bored, and let go, thanking the shark in its language for the ride. 

She corkscrewed once more, spinning down to the seabed, her feet only an inch above the silt and stone. Drifting along, she closed her eyes, and simply allowed herself to be taken by the currents. It was thrilling, relaxing and freeing, all at once. Her mind expanded, taking in all the life that teemed around her, from the microscopic to everything visible.

Her eyes flickered open as she sensed the person she had come to see. Spiralling through the water once more, she returned to shore, the water becoming brighter and brighter and she spiralled towards the surface. Passing through the net once more, she broke the surface of the waves, unnoticed by anyone. 

Ignoring the stares that followed her, she returned to shade cast by the umbrella, where her brother sat still engrossed in his book, the only difference being the half eaten and drunk beverages surrounding him, a couple crumbs littered around. 

"How was the sea?" Chuck asked, without looking up from his tome.

"Lovely, and very refreshing. I take it you've sensed that he's here?"

"Of course. He's hard to miss. Even without being able to access his full power, he's still quite potent. It's a good thing Nephilim don't have the powers he does, or there would be trouble." 

"There are quite a few of them on the Earth, aren't there?"

"More than Heaven knows. Many, many more."

"But only one cambion."

"Who is right over there."

Amara turned, and looked out over the sandy ground as a tall, lean blond surfer rode the waves with an ease and grace that made it look like he simply gliding, rather than actually passing through the medium. 

She watched him for a while, slicing through the sparkling liquid, his board a swordfish, sweeping up and down the wave as it curled over him, crashing down into white spray. Eventually, he finished, and walked up the beach, carrying his board under his arm. He wasn't looking where he was going, and started as he almost walked into her. 

"Hello, Jesse."

He collected himself, and took her in, his gaze curious, slightly interested and just a tad suspicious. Natural of course, given who he was, and what he had been through. He was well on his way to being fully grown, and would, even without his powers, be a rather interesting person. She could see the plains shifting around him, responding to his caution. 

"Hello."

"How are you?"

"Fine... Do I know you?"

"No. But I happen to know you." 

The caution flared up in his eyes, and his power launched itself at her. Amara didn't bother to check what he wanted her to do, she just let power wash over her, beating down on her, attempting to prod and poke her into submission. 

Tilting her head to the side, she smiled at him.

"I just want to talk. I bear you no ill will."

"Who are you? And what do you want?" His knuckles whitened as he gripped the edge of surfboard, as if he were preparing to swing it at her. 

Reaching out and touching him on the shoulder, Amara allowed him to sense her as she really was. 

Blinking he simply stood there for a moment, overwhelmed and confused.

"Who- What are you?" 

"Come over, and I'll explain. There's someone else who you need to meet as well."

"You're not going to hurt me? 'Cause if you're going to, just get it over and done with."

She didn't smile at him; it wouldn't be reassuring in this situation. 

"Not at all. Seriously. Just a quick chat."

His grip of the shaped fibreglass loosened slightly, and his entire frame slackened. 

"Okay."

Walking back to the umbrella, she sat down opposite her brother, while Jesse planted his board in the sand, sitting off the blanket.

"Snacks?" Chuck said, stretching out to him, a chocolate bar in hand. Jesse bypassed the delicacy, grasping his wrist. He let go almost immediately, as if he'd been burnt. 

"You're exactly like her. Only-"

"The opposite?" Chuck smiled, his hand still outstretched. "The chocolate is good by the way. Straight from Belgium. Fresh off the production line."

He took it, almost snatching it from his hands. "Who are you two? And what do you want? You're not like anything I've ever seen or sensed before."

"In short, he's God, known now as Chuck. I'm his sister, Amara."

To his credit, he asked the right question.

"God has a sister?"

"Long story. Very, very long story. But that's not why we're here."

Jesse tore the wrapper open, breaking off a large piece and popping in his mouth. He actually flinched, and then his face twisted into an incredulous expression.

"This is awesome. What's in this thing?"

"Chocolate. A recipe that's been refined to the pinnacle of perfection. I could have never come up with this. And not in such a short space of time."

Jesse just looked at him, half perplexed, half amused.

"You talk about time like it's nothing."

"It is, and it isn't. Time really is-"

"Chuck. Let's not with the whole space-time continuum. We're just here to help."

"Help?" Jesse echoed. "What do I need help with?"

"Jesse, I've seen what you've been doing for the past few years. How you arrived here, and just about managed to get yourself set up before you lost your powers. How you've developed them gradually over the years, allowing you to avoid detection and grow up as you always have. Independently."

"What else was I supposed to do?" Jesse replied. His voice was bitter as he looked between the two of them. "I was young. Basically alone. Nothing but the power that I got from being born as a weapon. Managed to find a house, set up a bank account, get myself legally made a Australia citizen, and got into a school... All before they just vanished. Not completely. But I barely had anything left."

"But you managed to get by."

"Just about. It really wasn't any different than my life in America. Except I had no parents, and was in control of my own finances." He laughed. "That took a little getting used to. But I made do. I managed to get a few jobs, pick up a few extra dollars. Now's it's not so bad. I can't complain."

"I know. You've survived where a lot of people would have fallen. And as your condition and your hardships are a result of things way beyond your control, that we are partially responsible for."

"How-"

"Once again, a story for another time. Needless to say... You haven't had an easy life. And despite your upbringing, you haven't abused the little power you had - or the great amounts, when you had it."

So... What?"

Amara reached out, and touched him, rearranging his connection and his access to the power that had both helped and hindered his life, giving him full access to it. He gasped, his eyes glowing a dark gold, the network of veins rising under his skin, before it all went back to normal and he slumped forward slightly, shrugging off the residual energy .

"Be careful with it. Your power exceeds that of some of these so-called creatures that call themselves gods. Use it wisely."

Jesse looked between the two of them, curious, confused, slightly scared, and also just a little relieved. 

"What do you want from me?" he replied. 

"Nothing."

"Everyone wants something," he replied. "It doesn't matter how powerful you are- Every conscious being wants something. Even someone as... endless as yourself."

Amara gave him a tiny smile. "There's nothing you can give me. I simply wanted to give you something, just a gave someone else who suffered for a long time something. I cannot give this to everyone. So I'm just choosing a few, here and there. People that will hopefully help some other people - and I think you'll be one of those people."

"You don't even know me."

"Not personally. But I know of you. And have seen, in one way or another, what you might be capable of."

"I... I really don't know what to say."

"There's nothing really to say," Chuck interjected. "You've been given a gift. An extension to your gift, really. Try to use it wisely, okay?"

Jesse blinked once, and then twice, still looking nonplussed. He dragged his fingers through the sand, changing it from gold to an aqua green, and then back again. 

"Thanks."

He didn't say anymore, still in some ways suspicious and wary. Yet he managed a smile, as he drew his surfboard out, and with a little wave to the both of them, walked up the beach away from them.

"I know you think I shouldn't have done that. But I just want to make a little difference."

"I just hope it doesn't come back to haunt you. It has for me. Many, many times. Interfering with humanity is often detrimental to them. But we'll see how yours go."

Amara looked after the retreating figure. "I guess we will."


	4. Daddy Issues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amara makes a little mistake.

The next two and a half weeks were magical. 

They travelled the world, stepping on every continent, dancing through mountains and the skies, across cities, towns, villages and individual homes that sprang up in the middle of nowhere, beacons of humanity in the natural sprawl of nature. Glass and brick amongst wood and leaves, the smell of water and pollen filling the air. Restaurants, monuments, national parks, lost cities buried under dirt, sand and vines... It was all on display for the two of them, places untouched by humanity for hundreds, or thousands of years.

Brother and sister sipped hot chocolate while they read books in an Egyptian tomb, had a snowball fight after building snowmen atop Everest, and sang songs as they danced around fires at camp sites, making the smoke and ash into shapes to amuse the children. Walks along cliffs, a day on an island in the far flung reaches in the Pacific Ocean, watching the Northern Lights from the Arctic Circle. 

Yet it simply couldn't last.

While they were eating in a restaurant in Beijing, after walking along one of the blocked off sections of the Great Wall, and exploring the hidden passageways in the Palace Museum, they sensed there was something amiss. Both of them were slightly tuned out from the universe at this point, but the sudden spike of magic and energy from Australia made them both look at each other . 

Both of them continued eating for a moment; Amara savouring her vegetarian baozi and beef noodles while Chuck at away at a plate of rice, curry, chicken and vegetables, while they expanded their awareness to see exactly what was going on - although they instinctively knew who was going to be involved.

What surprised them were the other participants.

The angels' grace flashed like beacons against the darker presence of Jesse's unique ability. Nobody was dying, but there were definitely some injuries being handed out in both directions, and the energy being manipulated and used was increasing with every passing strike.

"We need to go. Before someone actually gets hurt."

"You go. I'll be along in a moment."

Amara frowned, as her brother scooped up another mouthful of the meat, grain and sauce.

"Chuck. I know when you're lying."

He sighed, putting the spoon down. "You know I can't just burst onto the scene."

"Why not?"

He gave her a dark look, his lips thinning out. "I just can't."

"Once again, why not? Because you haven't seen them a few thousand years? What's that really, in terms of their life time?"

"You don't get it. I made them independent - to a point. But so many years of obeying my will, and then the will of the archangels... They aren't accustomed to governing themselves. They always need a leader. If I appear to them, they'll want me to lead them, to govern them. I just don't want to do that anymore."

"They have their own leaders now. Clinging to you would be a move backward. Especially when you could just disappear back into the far flung reaches of the Universe."

"It won't matter. They're not comfortable with their freedom. If any of the archangels or I showed up, they'd fall right back into their old ways. Even Lucifer, to some degree. He'd probably have to kill a few of them, but with a little cajoling and honeyed words they'd eventually come around."

"Just come. If I show up by myself, there's just going to be another fight - and that's that last thing that needs to happen. It would be a disaster - even if I didn't fight back."

Chuck still looked unhappy. Another flare of magic and grace flickered across the globe to them, and Amara vanished, only slightly annoyed at her brother. Their own confrontation had been prolonged, vicious and awkward - but at least they had been roughly equals. 

A reunion between Chuck and the Heavenly Host would be significantly more unpleasant, especially if they resented him as much as he thought they did.

She arrived just in time to see Jesse flinging a couple of angels back, even as more pressed forward, their eyes glowing blue, angel blades in hand. They had cornered him in the back garden of an abandoned house, blocking all escape roots, backing him into the wall. Energy flew back and forth, the angels creeping forward inexorably, their injuries multiplying, while they managed to inflict only a little in return - but it would eventually add up. 

Amara separated them with a wave of her hand, forcing the angels back, suppressing both their and Jesse's powers, blanking them in her own indomitable abilities.

The angels whirled around, as did Jesse, searching for the source of this sudden interruption. 

As their eyes fell on the brunette hair, and the simple black dress, all of them recoiled, except for Jesse, who looked his face had been caught between a small frown and a tiny smile. 

"The Darkness," one of the angels said. "You left the Earth. You- You should not be here."

"But I am."

"You cannot stand in between us and this child. He is a danger to everyone and everything," another said. "His power is dark, malevolent-"

"I gave him his powers back. He is not a threat to anyone. Not to you, and not to humanity."

"You killed humans and angels, and nearly destroyed the Universe. How can we trust a word that you say?" 

"He has had his powers for years. To a lesser degree, definitely - but not at all unsubstantial. Don't trust me - trust him, and his inherent goodness."

"His powers come from hell!"

"And he used them for good. Have the heavens consistently used their considerable powers for the benefit of mankind?" 

"That has nothing to do with you!" the first angel snapped. "We must destroy this child-"

"Matthias."

The contingency of angels stiffened.

"Matthias, she speaks the truth. The boy is no threat to any of you."

Their faces showed a range of emotions, the expressions flickering across them in such quick succession that it was almost impossible to discern anything other than the absolute confusion that they felt. Amara saw wrath, loss, relief, resentment, happiness, bitterness, elation. It was a concept that would have been alien to her, had she not gone through it herself.

"Shall we take this upstairs?"

Their surroundings were replaced by the white architecture of heaven, the sterile, almost bleak environment that the angels choose to live in. 

"I don't like it here. How about this?"

And then they were in a garden - a beautiful, lush landscape full of every colour of flower, and every type of tree imaginable, even some that hadn't been seen on Earth. The scent of pollen drifted through the air, even though none of the plants needed to reproduce.

"I always liked this spot. Very picturesque. Very soothing."

No-one answered, the angels still staring at the man they called father in stunned silence. 

"It's nice to see you all again. I know it's been a while-" He simply stopped as Matthias took a single step towards him. 

"Is that really you? Truly you? Father," he added on at the end hastily.

"Yes, I'm back."

"What- What-" Matthias' eyes darted between Chuck and his siblings, not quite knowing what to say - until he noticed Amara. A perfect distraction.

"What are you doing with her? She's the Darkness, the Destroyer, who nearly killed you! If she's possessed you or coerced you by nearly taking your life, just say the word and we'll-"

"No, I'm with her by choice. We had... a lot of catching up. She missed the last few million years."

"But- But-"

"Who is she?" another angel said stepping forward to cover for her shocked brother. "What is she?"

Chuck seemed to age before her. He sounded very tired when he said the words. "She's your aunt, Jochebed. My elder sister."

There was another silence, this one potently different from the first one, as they tried to wrap their heads around this information. Well, verbal silence anyway.

Amara tuned into to angel radio quietly, and was almost psychically deafened by the information that was being broadcasted across every wavelength. All of them were tuning in. Even those who didn't want to, were reluctantly dragged in, and when they realised what was going on, turned their full attention to the situation at hand. 

"Your sister?" Jochebed nearly choked on the last word, her eyes flickering between the two of them. "Lucifer said this... But he is the Mather of Lies. I thought- We thought- What is going on?"

"I guess I should explain from the start..."

The second he finished the sentence the message on angel radio changed, calling all angelic beings in the vicinity of heaven. They descended in their thousands, the Heavenly Host all sitting around Chuck, a gigantic school class that was waiting on the words of a headmaster that they loathed, loved and feared. Those who could not come listened and watched through the eyes of others, with rapt attention. 

Chuck shot her a look, and Amara felt a twinge of pity for him, and some regret that she had pushed him to come, even though the entire episode would have gone considerable worse had he not been there. She didn't know what was going through his head at the moment, and she didn't really want to. Now that Amara thought about it, it had been hard enough for them to reconnect, one on one. 

For him to reconcile with this many people at once must be unbelievably complicated and emotional. Especially if he felt as guilty as he looked.

Even as they approached, Amara could see the lines appearing on her brother's face, and felt the overwhelming feeling of resentment towards him, for all that happened. How it would manifest itself was another question.

As they all settled into the garden, Amara ignored the looks they shot at her, and leaned against a tree to listen.

Chuck began to speak, and she watched as they all simply sat there as if immobilised, totally attentive to the being that had created them.

The sheer intensity of that much attention directed solely at one person, with all the attention the billions of humans had lavished on him across the ages... It was too much. Even for an immortal that balanced out the very fabric of existence.

As soon as he finished, a hand went up in the crowd.

"Father?"

"Please, call me Chuck, Matthias."

"Certainly Fath- Chuck. I think I speak for all the angels in saying that we don't fully understand why you left - and that things would have been better had you been around. We have had turmoil in Heaven, and on Earth. Angels have killed other angels. The Apocalypse was averted, but we lost Michael. Then we had the Civil War between Raphael and Castiel, with a little mayhem from the Mother of Monsters, Eve, that ended with Raphael's death, and Castiel declaring himself the New God. Your first children, the Leviathans were released, we fell from Heaven, a Knight of Hell walked the Earth... And that's just the Winchesters. There were other disturbances, in other parts of the world. We needed you." The angel took a deep breath; Amara saw the furrowing of the angel's brow, fists clenching, eyes scared, but brave. "And you left us." 

A stifled collected gasp went through the crowd, with angels hissing at him to apologise, while others stood up to protest that he was right. Angel radio went mad again, while voices were raised, sides drawn up, arguments flaring into being in an instant.

Chuck stood up - and silence fell like bolt of lightning. He sat back down just a quickly, but the noiselessness continued.

Amara couldn't watch any longer.

She delved into angel radio, and found every single one of them, suspending them in time and space. A few weeks ago, she would have found this impossible, but now, back at full power and more in tune with the harmonies of creation, it was easy. She understood her brother, and by proxy, his creations. 

She walked over to him as he stood there, looking over the faces, all frozen in his direction, masks that were painful to stare into.

Placing a hand on his shoulder, Amara just stood there, not quite sure what to say. So she said what thought was appropriate.

"I'm sorry."

He stretched his left hand over his body, placing it over hers. "It's my fault, in the end. But like I said, my return does them no good. Look at them, divided and unhappy. I wish... I wish I had never come here."

Amara winced, and then straightened up. He had been right in the first place; she could have simply whisked Jesse away, and made him invisible to the angel eye. They had no need to go to the scene. But they couldn't change that now. They could only change the outcome.

"Well then, let us make so we were never here."

Chuck's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to protest. But then something shifted in him, and his mouth tightened. She felt the power flowing through his fingers as they rested on hers, darkness and light twisting around each other, and then flowing forth, accessing ever single host through angel radio. They removed the meeting from their minds, as well as Jesse, and, with a flick of their fingers returned them all through time and space to where they had been before their Father had returned, (excluding Castiel, who already knew the story and had not bothered to show up or tune in), while simultaneously hiding Jesse from the heavenly host. As a final act, they vanishing to Mars, to recuperate after their expenditure. 

As they landed, Chuck walked away a little, his steps measured and slow.

Amara stared after him, and sat down to wait. 

He would come to her when he needed her. She would not approach him before then.

After all, they had eternity.


	5. Changing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amara selflessly and selfishly indulges herself.

The planets spun round the Sun, the Solar System moving in the perfect harmony that it had been through the ages, spinning round, and round, and round. 

It had been quite a while, and Chuck was still in a slump. They had spent two days on Mars; while Amara walked the planet, he had sat in a small hut that he had torn from the surface of the Red Planet, scribbling away in a notebook, or tapping in the network of satellite dishes that surrounded the Earth, watching multiple shows at once, even hacking into the secure files of production companies, and dragging the unseen episodes out across the vastness of space for his own viewing pleasure.

All the while, Amara thought, trying to think of something to cheer him up. Nothing came to her. Not a single thought, not a single idea. When she returned, Chuck murmured something about a change of scenery. She instantly agreed, and he swept them off into what looked like a bar. 

And they hadn't left it since. A week passed, and then two, with Chuck still miserable after the terrible interaction that he'd had with his children. He sat there, composing songs, reading books, watching shows, and still scribbling away. Everything had a melancholy feel to it, a miasma of sadness and loss, a dark cloud over it. Amara thought she was the Darkness, but her brother was doing a good job of being everything she was associated with.

She tried to cheer him up, took part in everything he did, summoned the most delicious meals, played computer games with him until she actually had to heal her fingers. Nothing lifted the gloom. 

Amara didn't know what to do. What would make him laugh or smile? What would make him at least forget?

A idea niggled at the back of her brain, sparking into an idea, a flame that burned low, flickering. As the days continued to pass them by, it was given fuel and oxygen, the flame was nurtured into a bonfire that she could no longer resist. It was something she had wanted to do anyway, but she had wanted to wait a little more time before she committed to it. Yet with the stagnation of their tour of the Universe, Amara decided it would be appropriate as both a personal project and a distraction. 

"I'm stepping out for a moment - shouldn't be too long."

Chuck grunted, and ate a handful of crisps, and then reached from his fizzy drink. He'd move onto the popcorn next, buttered and caramel. Cookies, chocolate bars, cake, and brownies would follow. The sandwiches were at the other end of the table, pickle and cheese, turkey ham with tomato and lettuce with mayonnaise, smoked salmon, and even pulled pork burgers with fried onions. Amara was glad he couldn't gain weight. Or contract mortal diseases for that matter. 

Transforming herself into black smoke, she sped across the Universe, moving across the emptiness that was no longer so empty. The darkness greeted her calling to her, and she responded, engulfing herself in it, and twirling herself like a phantom ballerina through the dark, laughing with rapture, unable to hold it in. Onward she went, until she was far enough away from her brother's immediate senses to ward herself against his awareness without him instantly noting her absence. Not that he would notice at this time, anyway.

Abruptly stopping, Amara took stock of herself, and sent her awareness out once more, tendrils of sense reaching out for what she needed. Her other thought processes were subsumed into the search, and she drifted across space in the insubstantial form.

How long she was drifting for was not something she even considered. It would take as long as it needed to. 

It was lovely, floating across the plains of existence, taking stock of things while not actually registering them consciously, until she came across what she need. Drawing herself back in, Amara allowed the information that she had collected in her net to be dumped into her mind, arranging it instantaneously - and then she moved, shifting outside of the Universe, rather than within it. 

Coalescing herself back into human form, Amara looked around. Moving that far through the Multiverse had been a little more difficult than she had initially thought it would be. Yet it was going to be completely worth it when she was done. 

This universe was dead. The stars were nearly all dead, the black and white dwarfs, neutrons stars and black holes the main heavenly bodies that were dotted across the sky, the few pinpricks of light coming from stars near the end of the life cycles, supernovae and red giants. She felt the tears in the fabric of reality, where the few remaining sentient beings had pierced the divide between the different realities of the Multiverse, and left their dying universe. Most of the remaining planets were bare of life, with only a few primitive life forms clinging to an existence that would soon end, with or without her.

She spread out her arms, and closed her eyes, releasing the destructive power that had always come so naturally to her. Dissolving back into black smoke, she drifted across space, undoing every single piece of shaped matter that she came across. Primordial soup flowed free, the raw materials forming in her wake trying to bond back together to form substances.

The black holes bowed to her strength, the gravitational fields dismantled as the densely packed particles were forced apart, everything that was crushed in there disassembled as attempted to spiral out back into ether. 

Basking in the glory of undoing, the thrill of destruction, Amara felt invincible. Yet there was still a bit of her that reined herself in, ensuring that she did not bleed across the boundaries of the universe.  
Her sense of direction was all a whirl; in fact there was no direction, and it was bliss. 

Time lapsed once again, as Amara simply enjoyed living in the moment, the feeling of freedom, revelling in simply being herself, the drifting, swirling feeling absolutely glorious, a beautiful release of self and sense. 

With everything though, it simply couldn't last. Only somewhat reluctantly, she drew herself in, her anticipation of the next stage quickly overwhelming any regrets she felt. Reforming herself into her human form, Amara steadied herself, drawing on the innate power of the dark, shoring herself up for what she was about to do.

Pressing her palms and fingers together in front of her chest as if she were praying, before peeling them apart, wrists first, middle fingers last, her arms sweeping out in an arc, until they were fully outstretched, her palms turning over to face what would be perceived as upwards, closing her eyes and taking a deep imaginary breath. 

First things first.

The universe her brother created was a fantastic, almost mythical place. Great for inspiration, great as a reference point. 

But she was not Chuck. She was not God. 

And this universe would not be like his. 

Her imagination ran through thousands of configurations, millions of combinations, balancing compensating, calculating, until she satisfied with what she saw before her. She wasn't sure whether it was beautiful. She wasn't sure about the future of the place, or whether it would stand the test of time. But it was hers. It was her dream.

Now was the time to make it a reality. 

Taking a mental hold of primordial soup, Amara exhaled - and a wave of her power rippled across the formless matter, seizing hold of tiny building blocks and beginning to manipulate them into the images that she saw in her mind. The silence that had been there a moment ago was broken as the gears of creation began to grind, bands of matter swirling and spinning, slamming together, exploding in bands of colour, being drawn inward and squashed together. Her very being was now bound up in the process, watching with both her eyes and her extended self the chaos that was now falling into some sort of order. 

She turned in a circle, her arms moving up and down, hands twisting, fingers flexing in waves, individual digits flicking as heavenly bodies slotted into place, forces taking hold, every movement of her body conducting the matter to where she wanted it to be.

Amara was elated. Destruction was majestic - and yet creation had its own magnificence. As the newest universe in the Multiverse came into being, she felt a soaring wave of joy, and let out single cry of undulated happiness, overriding the sound of the everything coming together, as all that she created was solidified, everything slotting into place as the sound faded. 

And then it was over. 

Drawing herself back into the corporal form, she couldn't help but smile. Beautiful simply wasn't enough to describe. It was astounding, resplendent... And she knew every intricate detail of it. Every quark, every atom, every molecule had been situated in place by her, by her own will, by the sheer force of the considerable power she wielded. 

It felt different to her brother's universe. His was formed with the power of light and order - hers was formed with the power of darkness and chaos. While she felt like a observer or a visitor in her brother's creation, this simply felt like an extension of herself, a manifestation of her inner workings, an additional limb that was unnecessary, and yet surprisingly comfortable to finally obtain. 

Now, it was time to share it. 

With that final thought, Amara dissolved herself into dark smoke, and prepared to move back across the Multiverse.


	6. Into the New World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amara and Chuck take another little trip.

Her brother's universe appeared in front of her, Amara felt a mixture of happiness and loss. It was a wondrous place, full of mystery and intrigue - and yet she longed to see her own again. 

Speeding across the Universe at breakneck speed, she reformed herself into her human form, in front of the doors of the hidden bar where her brother still sat. She could sense him, still sitting there, still dragging television shows from satellite network, still eating his weight in unhealthy foodstuffs. With a flick of her fingers, they swung open, and she walked in, trying to hide her excitement - and annoyance at seeing him so indolent. 

"Chuck."

"Amara," he replied, his eyes still fixed on the flicking images, while taking another bite of tofu burger he was eating, the smell of melted cheese and rich sauces filling the air. "Where were you?"

"You noticed I was gone?"

"Sort of... Well, not at first really, but you were gone for about three weeks. I got through a lot of TV in that time, and completed quite a few games. On multiple consoles and platforms. Then again, what's time to us?"

The old joke fell flat, sounding slightly hollow and disingenuous - exactly like the facade he was only half-heartedly putting up for her. 

"Come on, Chuck. I have something I want to show you."

He didn't look away from the shows. "Don't want to."

"You can't stay in here, moping about a failed reunion-"

"Why not? I'm not going to get ill, and besides you, who wants to see me? And I mean, just see me. Not petition that I give them something, or ask me lead them to some new shining glorious future that I'll have to build and rule? No-one - So I'm happy to just stay here until I feel like going out again."

Amara folded her arms. "And how long is that going to be?"

Chuck shrugged, and put down the burger to pick up the deep fried, breaded prawns. "Whenever I feel better."

"And what am I supposed to do for the rest of the time?"

Chuck made a non-committal noise, as if he had only partially heard what she said, and put another prawn in his mouth - spitting out just as quickly when it caught fire. The haze in front of his eyes appeared to clear, although he made no move to shift away from the rest of the dishes that, along with the table, had also caught fire. 

He glared at his sister.

"Are you trying to upset me even more? Can't I even have comfort food?"

"If that's what it takes to get you out of the rut you're in, then that's exactly what I'll do. And that's not comfort food - it's pure self-indulgence. And it doesn't suit you at all. Especially the sulking."

"What would you know about what suits me?"

"Is sulking pretty on anybody? No. But on one of the most powerful beings ever? Sulking in a corner of the Universe he created?" She shook her head. "But I didn't come here to argue. I came here to show you something."

"What? Like you just said, I created this Universe. There's nothing in it that I don't know about. And I know quite a lot about the others out there too. So what are you going to show me that I haven't seen?"

"Just come with me, Chuck. If what you see doesn't interest you, I'll leave you alone until you get out of whatever funk you're in."

She waved a hand, and the fire went out abruptly, leaving the charred remains of the faux-banquet behind, the wood popping and snapping, spitting ash and glowing embers that drifted down into Chuck's hair, fading to grey and black as they did.

He sighed, and stood up, jamming his hands into his pockets. 

"Fine then."

Amara walked over him, and stretched out her hand. Chuck reluctantly took it, and together, they vanished, twisted through the walls of his universe, and into hers.

....................................................................

His mouth literally dropped open. Amara mentally stored that image; it would be priceless for later use. 

"What- What-" He looked at her incredulously. "What is this?"

"Come on. Can't you tell?"

She felt him reaching out, and then felt his shock.

"Was this your... Your first attempt?"

"Yep."

"It took me an age to even get things remotely functioning properly... And you did this in three weeks?"

"I had a good teacher."

"Even so... Amara, this is just... Wow."

Planets had worked in her brother's Universe, but it hadn't been what she had wanted for hers. Individual galaxies floating around, all with their own black holes and suns, orbiting in patterns that took millions of years to alter fractionally. Planets with various habitats and atmospheres, sprouting and hosting various life forms unique to the area.

Instead, she had filled her entire Universe with something she would probably call ether. A substance that glowed a soft metallic gold, made of elements not found in any other Universe, as everything else was. She had invented her own periodic table; it would've been pitiful to clone her brother's.

They stood atop a range of mountains in the shape of slightly bent crown, that stretched hundreds of miles of the surface below. Massive plateaus of the multicoloured glassy, crystalline substance stretched out across the heavens, bridges of the material spearing off in every direction, soaring upwards and downwards, and even spiralling into the distance - immense, incomparable, immovable connections between every part of the Universe. The various colours sometimes appeared in blocks, bleeding into one another other when they changed, while others were simply an explosion of paint, as if a living tornado had attacked an painter's studio - and they moved. Some spun from one to the other in an instant, before remaining still, some creeping along like stain, pushing out, merging or interlinked with the others in their way.

Spear-like plants stabbed at the open sky, all varieties of blue, grey, black and purple, clustered in groups, the occasional individual on standing proudly alone. Rivers and streams of a russet red colour squirmed along the surface of the conglomerate, even passing through the ether in twisting loops and arcs, seemingly unsupported, filling pools that drained away underground, or simply through the other side of the formation they were situated in, drifting off elsewhere. 

Clouds of gaseous substances floated at random intervals, some of the same colour as the substance that filled the river, only paler and more insubstantial looking, especially when contrasted to their far few and much larger silver-grey fog like counterparts, that didn't seem to move at all, while the reds roiled and twisted as if in enraged. 

There was no sky, as the crystalline formations that reached across the once emptiness carried on right to the edge of the Universe. Even as Chuck stretch his gaze right to edge, he saw the unmatched, wild beauty that this barely formed existence contained, and the potential of what it could possibly be. 

And all the while, Amara stood there watching him marvel. It was one thing for her to be excited about her Universe. But it was another thing to be acknowledged by the one person who knew what it was like to form things on this vast scale, and to have him so awestruck that he looked like a little child. 

"Sis, this is... Amazing. Organised, and yet so chaotic... So like you."

"It is, isn't it?"

"How did you do it? Did you have this in mind from a while ago?"

"I had a blueprint... But it was more organic than anything else. I just thought of how I wanted it to be, and adapted it as I went along."

"It's wonderful. And so unique - I would never have thought of connecting an entire Universe together in this way. It's not something I could've even conceived, let alone created. I would've been think about the mechanics, the systems, the use of space."

"Like I said, I just made it up as I went it along. It feels natural, an part of me; an extension of myself. A sort of continuation of my very being." 

"I've always thought my Universe was the same thing. But I could never quite explain it. There wasn't anyone who quite understood that - being that no-one else could create stuff on that scale. 

"Until now." 

"Until now," he nodded. "You're going to have to tell me all about this place. All the scientific laws, the way you constructed the building blocks, and then put them together... There's so much to know. And thanks, by the way."

"For what?"

"You know, and I'm not going to spell it out for you. You did this for yourself... But you also did this for me."

"What else am I supposed to do when my little brother's being a whiny brat? You've millions of years without anyone to admonish you. So we'll start off nice - but wake up calls are going to be more harsh from now on."

"Couldn't you let me live with my delusions for a minute?"

"No."

"You're so bossy."

She drifted off the mountain, and beckoned at him to follow without even glancing around. 

He grumbled half-heartedly as he followed her, into the new land she had made.


	7. The New Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amara ties up some loose ends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been a long time coming apologies to the one person that was waiting.This is the end though, so thank you for reading and enjoy.

Nothing she had experienced captivated her as the next few weeks did. Even with their unnatural abilities, it still took longer than anticipated to cross her Universe, exploring every inch, nook and cranny of the magnificence that greeted them. 

Yet it was still missing the one key element that had made her love her brother's Universe so much. 

Things moved, the mechanics were perfect, and everything was beautiful. Nothing was out of place, everything untouched and almost frozen in a window of time. 

They laughed and joked with each other, admiring everything - and still the trip lacked that final, vital element that had bought a smile to her face, that had made her question everything that she had known and understood.

A familiar face flashed through her mind, the brown hair, hazel eyes and rough stubble making her smile. A being whose could live and die a near numberless amount of times in her lifespan (if it ever ended) had understood her like no-one else had. Whether she had cared for him beyond his kindness was another question entirely, something that she would have to decide sooner rather than later. But for now, it would simply inspire the beginning of something new. 

Amara gathered the elements of her universe in her hands, forming a sphere that flexed and pulsed like a computer simulation, growing spines, and rippling, the surface of an ocean suspended in midair. Turning her consciousness inward, she found the essence of herself, the swirling blackness that thrummed through existence, a quietly powerful force that was neither evil nor good. Even she didn't quite understand what is was - only that it was hers to use as she pleased.

Power from her core travelled through the end of her fingers, focusing itself towards the floating ball of elements, knitting them together, and then unravelling them, forming patterns and systems that in an never-ending continuous roulette that was more sensed than seen. 

Thousands of simulations and calculations impossible for anyone other than her only relative to understand flashed through her mind at breakneck speed, and she threw the sphere into the air, the ever morphing shape expanding as more of the elements were gathered into the maelstrom. With an intelligence beyond that of thousand quantum supercomputers, Amara bonded the elements together, combining the delicate touch of a seamstress with the brutal force of supernova, employing the subtle instruments of creation to bring forth life most suited to her new Universe.

The elements glowed, shapes appearing within, the immense energy within sphere focused and twisted down into life forms that began to wriggle and move, protected from the explosive power that surrounded them. With a flick of her hand, the sphere shattered into energy rippling out, as life forms spilled out into her universe. She watched them shimmer, scurry and twist past her, all heading towards the habitats that she had designed them for, the microscope ones floating away, already multiplying. With each of the larger life forms, she had created at least hundred of them, a good starting number for them to grow into the environments they would be living in without overwhelming them. 

Yet while all of the new life was truly spectacular, there was one that drew her eye - and a full on smile from her. The size of a donkey, with ten legs with three joints, a skin the colour and appearance of a pair of jeans broken up by gunmetal grey strips rippling down salon car shaped body. Long glossy brown tendrils tipped with black, some wisp thin, some as thick as a pencil sprouting from all over, while sensory organs, hazel raised rectangles indentations, were placed on its body where the headlights, door handles and taillights of a car would have been. 

Amara walked up to the creature, stroking it gently, amused that something so strange could remind her someone so far away. 

"He really made an impression on you, didn't he?"

"Even if he hadn't released me, I think we would have run into each other eventually."

Chuck shrugged. "If anyone was going to release you, it would be those two. They manage to find themselves in situations that I don't even think are divinely possible, let alone humanly."

"That's just them though, isn't it? Always throwing themselves into the something, never once thinking about the consequences." Amara stood, looking off into the distance. "In a way, they're somewhat like us. Unwilling to let go of anything they care about, or love. I didn't want to share you with anyone. Which is why I destroyed everything you made. And you weren't willing to simply lock me away with no way of getting me back. Which is why you didn't keep the Mark on yourself - or someone that you then placed in another reality."

"True. But they understood all of that without our millions of years of life and experience."

"Humans. Sometimes so intuitive, and sometimes truly naive. With no way of comprehending which way someone will go until you've spoken to them. Completely unpredictable. And all the more beautiful because they are."

"After the angels... I wanted beings who could take the initiative, no matter where it led. Although, it didn't work out quite how I wanted it too, in terms of thoughts and ideas, humanity is the closest to us. The angels are beginning to get there... in some respects. And the demons were always like us. They were originally humans first."

"You will be able to go back to heaven one day. Without the fanfare and worship."

"That's going to take a while."

"Once again, dear brother. What is time to us?"

"Since living with humanity, I've realised that it doesn't matter that we have all the time in the world. What's the point of living for so long if you don't have anything to do, or any way to enjoy it at all? Living amongst my creations, once they had become advanced enough, has been one of the most memorable era within my existence."

"I figured - which is why I'm going to leave now. I want this universe to develop, to grow without me." She looked at her brother and smiled. "Then I'll come back, take the form of the natives, and... see what happens. I gave every creature the potential to evolve, to change, to truly adapt to whatever occurs over the next how many years. I'm sure it won't look like this when I return - and I'm thoroughly looking forward to it."

"So where are we going next?"

"We?"

"You didn't think I was coming along?"

"I didn't know if you would want to. Earth is your home, after all."

"It is. And we'll go back there one day. But there's still so much of to see, so much to do... So much to create. And now, I have someone to do it all with."

Amara smiled at her little brother. "You really are a big baby, aren't you?"

"It takes one to know one."

She laughed, and he laughed too, the life form looking at them with what appeared to be inquisitiveness, running its tendrils all their bodies and faces, exploring their strange, alien forms. 

It lurched back in surprise as they changed, slipping from its curious grasp, the pillars of shining white, and smoky dark clouds rising up and away, heading just to the edge of its senses, before twisting inwards and vanishing completely. 

The creature's tendrils moved - a wave perhaps - before it sensed another one of its brethren a little way away. Forgetting about the two mysterious creatures, it moved with a lumbering gait that swiftly became smooth, moving away from the spot where it had all began.


End file.
